Volume 1: Arc 3: Chapter 6

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is a different type of chapter than my usual.

If you're VERY lucky, I will have another chapter out late tonight.

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July 31, 29 R.E – November 10, 30 R.E.

Muhal cursed. He had ridden for a year across this accursed continent with his five-hundred men. Well, they had been five-hundred. Now, they were three-hundred and twelve. Disease, raiders, and the overall grind of the journey had caused utter devastation to his ranks of men.

But, they persisted. After all, Lord Gaya had commanded it. They had no choice but to continue. These Ventros all had to die if they had any chance of returning to their homeland. All the men had families waiting for them be they siblings, parents, wives, or children, these men were desperate to return.

And so, they soldiered on. And on. And on. Until they reached the Western Territories and began to march up the frozen incline that was Creva Mountain.

Another twenty died on that march alone from hypothermia, exhaustion, falling rocks, among other causes.

Most of his men, as they reached the height of Creva Mountain, were foaming at the mouth for Ventros blood. They wanted this journey over and quickly.

Muhal was of the same mind. While his family had long since perished in a long-forgotten war, Muhal needed to return to Abria. He had a name there. For centuries, he had roamed the continent and nameless, honor-less vagabond. That was, until Abria. In Abria, he had a name, a rank, and perhaps, if he returned with the Ventros’ heads, a title.

When his scouts returned, informing him of the well-fortified border to the valley, Muhal cursed his luck explicitly. There was only one entrance. One single, fucking entrance and they had it bloody blockaded by two-dozen men.

Further, it seems his scouts had been spotted thus complicating matters even further. Muhal cursed again. In different circumstances, he would have had the scouts’ heads, but he had too few men as it was.

“Soldiers of Abria!” Muhal turned, disgusted with sight of his scouts, “It is time for you to prove your valor! To show that you are true men of Abria!”

Shouts and cheers rose from his men urged on by their desperation and bloodlust. There was one, though, who remained silent. His head remained lowered, as if in morning, only emphasizing the newly shorn stumps on his forehead that once, might have been, ivory horns.

~

Yaka brooded silently. He sat behind his oaken-worked desk, his freshly polished boots resting on its smooth surface. For months, the Captain had left him in charge. He didn’t mind, not really. In truth, his new title of Base Commander meant little other than a bump in salary and a greater respect of the Council. Both of which, he could do without.

In fact, his duties had not changed one smidgen since he had acquired his new title. He had always recruited and trained the soldiers. The Captain had always been more of a field commander. Yaka had recognized as much at the Battle of Abria as the people were now calling it.

Today, though, was different. He felt that his job description did not fall within the purview of the news Falthor had just brought him. As the army expanded, somewhat due to the pay, the Captain’s reputation, and his now, prolonged absence, he was still feared after all, Falthor had risen in rank until he had become Rear Lieutenant of the Border Guard. Meaning, Falthor was in overall command of the Border Guard.

Just this morning, Falthor had run into his office, without waiting for Yaka’s secretary to notify him he had permission. In a breathless voice, he stated that ten to twelve men were discovered to be scouting the fortification blocking the entrance to Kankur. Further, he stated they had been wearing Lord Gaya’s colors.

Immediately, Yaka had informed the Council who of course, lost their collective heads. They demanded, actually demanded him to marshal his army and meet the probable invading force.

When he explained the problems with doing so, such as the lack of information about the enemy including their number, who they held their allegiance to, and if they even were enemies and the tactical infallibility of such a strategy as Kankur had sheer cliffs and a well-fortified defense making it almost impossible for it to be breached.

They did not listen. So, Yaka sat here with their orders in hand pondering what to do. He had sent a few scouts out earlier in the day to find more information about the opposing force; they had only just returned minus five of their number.

Though they had not ascertained the force’s number, one thing was clear, they were an enemy.

With a groan, Yaka rose from his chair. He had made his decision. Frankly, there was really no decision at this point.

Walking the few miles to the edge of the valley, Yaka hesitantly knocked on the small cabin’s doors. For a minute, he waited in silence.

Suddenly, without any warning, the door creaked open. “Yaka?” A deep, rumbling voice rose from the innards of the darkened cabin. Yaka felt his heart leap in his chest. He knew why many felt fear when looking at his Captain.

As Rajac opened the door wider, Yaka could see the familiar tall build, dense expanse of muscles and tall, thick horns. As Yaka looked up at Rajac’s face, he could not help but start. Hadn’t his eyes been black? But they were a muddy brown now. Yaka could see hints of green and blue interwoven into the mix as well. Strange. It must have something to do with the Captain’s training.

He let the matter be as he greeted his Captain gravely; his mood affected by the tiding he brought.

~

“You say that an army has gathered on our borders and the Council wants us to go out and exterminate them like rats?” Rajac said coolly. His anger, so long forgotten as he trained in consummate silence, began to rise like the morning tide.

“Yes.” Yaka said, his refined face showing a tightly held mixture of anger and anxiety.

Rajac sighed, breathing out silently. “Ignore it. We must wait until they come at us. They can’t starve us out.”

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“I agree.” Yaka said nodding. “We have enough arable land to support Kankur indefinitely. As for our economy, we still are in discussions to establish a trade route with one of the dukes’ cities. But, that has not happened yet. For now, most of our commerce is local so any attempt to restrict or cut it off will be ineffective.”

“Good.” Rajac said nodding. He flexed his arms stretching. It had been a very long time since he had actually moved. For months, he had sat in a meditative pose as he trained his Auxiliary Magic and soul-bound eyes collectively.

As neither required movement to train, he sat in his meditative pose every day, only rising for food and water.

Easily mastering his Auxiliary Magic, Rajac had trained his soul to a point where he felt, as if, he could not overcome the next bottleneck quickly. He had discovered, much to his surprise, that there were certain points one had to push through while training the soul.

Each bottleneck made it ten to twenty times harder to grow the soul. When Rajac was finally able to overcome a bottleneck, he easily was able to grow his soul until he reached the next bottleneck which, again, required a supreme amount of effort. This process continued until Rajac felt he could no longer grow his soul without many years of effort.

Therefore, for the past two weeks, Rajac had been absently training in the Ventros Sword Style, slightly bored. When Yaka finally called upon him, he knew something had happened to require his presence and his heart both leapt with joy and sank with despair at the news.

For he knew, he would not be called if Kankur was at peace or the matter was easily handled.

As Yaka and Rajac began to walk back toward the city, Yaka asked, a concerned note in his voice, “What about the Council’s orders?”

Rajac sighed again. Irritated that it had come to this. “I will speak to my mother. At least, she will see reason.”

~

A few hours later, Rajac and his mother, Tai, sat at their family’s small kitchen table, two steaming mugs of coffee sitting in front of them, untouched.

Tai sat with her legs primly crossed across from Rajac her usually kind face deepened into a frown. “Rajac, you have put me in a difficult situation.”

“Mother, it is you who have put me in one. The purview of the army fall under me and me alone. Is that now why you made me head of the army?”

Tai tapped her cup thoughtfully. “I think you misunderstood. The army was always under the direction of the Council; it was just harder to see with Temos in charge as he was a part of the Council.”

“I can’t have the Council breathing down my or Yaka’s neck every time we make a decision. Especially if all our fates rest on that decision.”

Tai laughed softly. “Oh, Rajac. You’ve grown so much in your years away. I can think of a time, not long ago, that you would have already been shouting me down for voicing an opinion that you disagreed with.”

“Times are different. People grow mother. They don’t always stay the same.” Rajac said calmly.

Tai sighed softly and took a sip of her coffee. As she set it down, she said, “I suppose that is true. But, think of it this way. The Council is like a parent to all Ventros. We come from every clan and watch over our people. Some may see us as vindictive for our strict rules and oversight but we do what is right for our people.”

“Is it right for our people,” Rajac countered, “for those who have no military understanding to give orders to the military?”

“Yes.” Tai said firmly. “The Council needs to have firm control of the military. If you do not understand why, look at any history book.”

“You should also look at a history book.” Rajac again countered. “Many times a governing body orders its generals to do something counter-productive to its military strategy thus resulting in a catastrophic defeat.”

“My son, please do not voice these opinions to the rest of the Council. For, they will take your command away if you do.” Tai said as she lowered her head, contemplating the milky contents of her cup.

“If they can.” Rajac muttered. There were too many factors at play now. His men feared him; however, there was also a love there as they saw him as a symbol perhaps on the same contour as Temos. Many of the people hated him, some feared him, and a few, a very few, loved him. Most though, respected him for his prowess on the battlefield.

If the Council tried to take away his command, there would be a large outcry from his detractors and admirers alike.

“That is true.” Tai agreed. “I think they will regret listening to me when I told them to make you the commander.”

“You did what?” Rajac said, mildly surprised. He had suspected she had something to do with it, as he had been busy with other matters, he had not had the time to investigate it properly.

“I just told you.” Tai said somewhat annoyed. Rajac’s mother was one of those people who hated to repeat herself. “The Council, in fact, wanted the head of the army to be one of them. But, I argued for you as you were proven on the battlefield and were good with the sword. So, they relented, but only after I promised them that I could control your actions.”

“And so, it had come to this.” Rajac said softly.

“We are at an impasse.” His mother said nodding. She had her duties to the Council and he had his duties to the army.

For many hours, they went back and forth unable to come to a decision.

However, it mattered not in the end.

As the sky turned dark and the negotiations continued, a fountain of men began to pour from the forest beyond the valley, weapons in hand and bloodlust mirrored in every face.

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